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Wellington is not only a place to satiate your senses with food, wine and bloody good coffee but it also puts on a good show for anyone interested in a bit of art. Just by wandering the streets you can catch sight of the odd mural painted on the side of a building or a ‘pop up’ installation by the waterfront. Yes there are many galleries scattered about town but you can easily get your fill from such places like the Museum Hotel, where I stayed for two nights.

The original site of the hotel was actually where the Te Papa Museum is today and rather than demolish it, the owner moved the entire building 120 metres across the road on purpose-built rail tracks. A permanent display of the owners artwork can be seen in the spacious lobby and the great thing is it’s free for all to enjoy. The eclectic collection of sculptures, paintings and even limited edition motor bikes have the underlying theme of questioning culture, identity and who we are.

street art …

Time for something a little sweet…

Following one of our dinners, Billy, Helen, Peter and I braved the wet weather and made our way to this iconic cafe for some more dessert. Sweet Mother’s Kitchen serves up food with leanings towards Creole, Cajun and even some Mexican snackages.

Coffee comes just as it should, gutsy and strong and the tea comes cosied up in colourful outfits. Fuel yourself with a mighty huevos rancheros at breakfast or gumbo, cornbread and chowder can be had in the evenings but what we were here for at this late hour was the stuff Helen kept raving about. The homemade pies!

As an all ’round flavour sampler we chose a trio of pies to tuck into for our midnight snack. The peanut butter pie (8) is creamy and distinctly peanutty and the key lime pie (8) is sharp and sweet and quite light in its mousse-like consistency. I have two favourites tonight. The Key lime pie and the third wedge – pecan & bourbon pie (8). Loads of pecans in a slightly sticky bourbon infused paste. This is pure indulgence and the only downside is that I didn’t get to try any of the savoury food. Not that I could have fit it in. When am I in Wellington next?

hnf stayed at Museum Hotel as a guest of Positively Wellington Tourism for Wellington On a Plate (WOAP)